Almost a decade after a Ryder Cup appearance, Chris Wood is fighting to revive a career that once promised so much.
A decade ago, Chris Wood was winning DP World Tour titles and representing Europe in the Ryder Cup. At his peak, he reached 22nd in the Official World Golf Rankings and was regarded as one of Europe’s purest ball-strikers – a 6ft 6in presence who looked destined for far more than the three wins he’s amassed so far. His 2016 BMW PGA Championship triumph at Wentworth and Ryder Cup debut seemed to cement his position as a towering player on the brink of a towering career.
Then everything collapsed. Chronic anxiety and burnout triggered a dramatic, near-total loss of form. He lost his DP World Tour card and fell outside the top 2,000 in the world rankings, a previously unthinkable drop for someone once pencilled in as a future European stalwart.
“It’s been horrendous, to be honest,” he said back in May at the Turkish Airlines Open, where he finally posted his first top-10 on the DP World Tour in seven years. “Since 2019 really – I just feel like I’ve been going through hell. I’ve been working so hard and it’s been a long old road. I never lost belief in myself – obviously you have days where it feels harder – the fire in my belly has always been there.”
That week felt like a breakthrough. He added a top-20 at the Danish Golf Championship, but too many missed cuts meant he still failed to secure a card for next season.
“Anyone who wants me at their event, please pick up the phone because I need a few starts this year!” he said in the summer.
Now, almost ten years after his Ryder Cup debut at Hazeltine, Wood is trying to rebuild his career through Q-School on the revived MENA Tour. The Dubai-based development circuit has bounced between dormancy, rebrands, and relative obscurity in recent years, making it a long way from the grandstands of Wentworth or the cauldron of a Ryder Cup. But it has returned with a 12-event schedule for 2025/26 and a pathway for players desperate for starts.
First comes a 54-hole qualifier at Troia Golf Course in Portugal, where Wood is among those battling for playing rights and a share of a modest $7,500 purse from November 20-22.
If he gets through, he’ll tee it up at PGA Aroeira next week for the opening event. Each regular-season tournament will carry a $100,000 purse, with a February “Q Sprint” offering another $50,000 and an extra route to status.
This isn’t Wood’s first attempt at an alternative pathway back to the big-time. He entered LIV Golf Promotions last December but fell short of joining the Saudi-backed league.
Wood will turn 38 next week, and the new mission is simple: survive MENA Tour Q-School, earn a spot somewhere to play, and keep the comeback alive.
